Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute (AGERI)Agricultural Research Centre

Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute (AGERI)Agricultural Research Centre

Mervat M. M. Ahmed EL-FarMervat M. M. Ahmed EL-Far

1000-2600 B.C.

1492

weetpotato is considered the

seventh most important food

crop in the world and is ranked

fourth in developing countries.

It is cultivated in more than 100

countries as a valuable source

of human food, animal feed and

industrial raw material.

SS

weetpotato is high in

carbohydrates, vitamines and

proteins,the roots of some varities

provide nutritional significant

quantities of vitamin A, ascorbic

acid, riboflavin, iron, calcium,

protiens and some functional

components such as anthocyanins,

polyphenols and dietary fibers.

SS

According to CSPI nutritionists,

the single most important dietary

change for most people would be

to replace fatty foods with foods

rich in complex carbohydrates,

such as sweet potatoes.

CSPI gave foods points for their

content of dietary fiber, naturally

occurring sugars and complex

carbohydrates, protein, vitamins

A and C, iron and calcium. Points

are deducted for fat content

(especially saturated fat),

sodium, cholesterol, added

refined sugars and caffeine. The

higher the score, the more

nutritious the food.

SWEET POTATO, BAKED 184

POTATO, BAKED 83

SPINACH 76

KALE 55

MIXED VEGETABLES 52

BROCCOLI 52

WINTER SQUASH, BAKED 44

BRUSSELS SPROUTS 37

CABBAGE, RAW 34

GREEN PEAS 33

CARROT 30

OKRA 30

CORN ON THE COB 27

TOMATO 27

GREEN PEPPER 26

CAULIFLOWER 25

ARTICHOKE 24

ROMAINE LETTUCE 24

Orange-fleshed varieties are

excellent source of vitamin A, (in

the form of beta-carotene) and a

very good source of vitamin C,

Beta-carotene is helpful in

preventing heart disease,

strokes.

Sweetpotato increase milk

production in nursing mothers and

are an excellent food for those that

do heavy muscular activities, as they

enhance strength. it is used to treat

ulcers and inflamed colon conditions.

It has long been used to improve

against anemia, constipation,

diarrhea, dysentery, poor circulation,

hemorrhoids high blood pressure,

mastitis, and premature ejaculation.

Sweetpotato also contain

protease inhibitors, which inhibit

the formation of cancer cells

according to many studies.

sweetpotato helped stabilize

blood sugar levels, healing

properties as an antioxidant

food.

Sweetpotato contains phytochelatins

which can bind to heavy metals and can

therefore help in detoxifying the body of

copper, mercury, lead, and cadmium. In

fold medicine, if a child accidentally

swallowed a coin, sweet potatoes would

be given to stick to the object and carry

it out of its system more easily.

In a Japanese study of twenty-eight

fruits and vegetables tested for binding

with cholesterol and lowering it,

sweetpotato ranked number one.

Sweetpotato produces more

biomass and nutrients per land

area than any other crop,

adaptable to abroad range of

agro-ecological conditions, can

grow on low-nitrogen soils and

draught tolerant. Sweetpotato

has an abundance of uses,

ranging from fresh roots to

many processed form.

Dry matter value Kg/Ha

In Egypt

Sweetpotato is grown in

Upper Egypt, Nubaria, Kafr

Elsheikh and Menoufia, the

area of sweet potato under

production has reached

28.000 acres with an

average yield 12 tons/acre. Sweetpotato

Others

Nutritional studies in Egypt gave

the evidence that population in

Egypt suffer from the deficiency

of zinc, iron and vitamin A,

making them more vulnerable to

illness, fatigue, visual and

memory impairment and

increasing the possibility of

mental retardation among their

children.

While Egypt export only 6.000 tons to Europe,

During the last three years, demand for sweetpotato export has been increased.

Exports Unit Value (US $/tonne/No)

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998

Exports Value (1000 US $)

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998

?

Pests and diseases prevent

the crop from reaching its

maximum agricultural

potential. Virus diseases have

been attributed as the main

cause of low yield.

Productivity, low quality and

the major cause of cultivar

decline; losses often reach 65

to 90 %. For this reason

farmers did not appreciate

planting sweetpotato.

We found that sweetpotato needs

We found that sweetpotato needs

For that we have adoapted the

idea of improving the

sweetpotato crop.

The improvement will allow

better food prices because the

production costs will be lower

and crop failure will be

decreased.

TechnologicalSupport

financial

Support

SWEETPOTAT

O ACTIVITIES

AT

AGERI

SWEETPOTAT

O ACTIVITIES

AT

AGERI

1.Improvement the deteriorated local varity

(Abees) through the production of virus-

free stock plants.

2.Development of an efficient system of

propagation that can prevent a spread of

virus disease.

3.Development of efficient quantitative

system for viral detection in sweetpotato

fields.

4.Sequence determination for the coat

protein gene.

5.Optimization of in vitro regeneration ability

to solve the difficulty of genotype

dependent regeneration phenomenon.

6.Evaluation of an orange-fleshed

sweetpotato germplasm provided by CIP

for yield, nutritional contents and

resistance/tolerance to major biotic and

abiotic stresses.

7.Quality assessment on the level of B-

carotene, proteins, fibers, minerals and

carbohydrates.

8.Sensory evaluation of sweetpotato

products.

9.Stimulate and promote microinterprise

development using products from orange-

flesh sweetpotato.

10.Raising awareness through the

extension to the farmers and peaple for

the sp value.

Using tissue culture techniques (heat therapy and meristem tip culture) we could obtain a virus free stock plants from ABEES the egyptian local varities.

Production of pathogen-free material is the first step of controlling the viral diseases.

1.Improvement the deteriorated local varity (Abees) through the production of virus-

free stock plants.

16

36216

12967776

46656279936

167961610077696

Culturing of single-bud explant

using tissue culture technique

could produce 2 to 8 million

plants following 9 subcultures.

This was calculated on the

basis of 20% losses of the

obtained shoots in each

subculture.

2.Development of efficient system of propagation that can prevent a spread of virus disease

AGERI Agro-

food

PPRI

Introduce virus-free stock plants.

Select adequate method for in vitro multiplication.

Produce in vitro massive germplasm

Monitoring harvest&post harvest operation up to transport to marke.

Evaluation sweetpotato quality, storability, shelf life extension upon the

Effect of introduced post harvest treatment.

Multiplication of sweetpotato plants.

Evaluation of sweetpotato germplasm at different locations.

Production of sweetpotato tuberous root.

The productivity of sweetpotato

virus-free plants using tissue

culture technique was improved.

The production reached 15 to 20

tons/acre comparing to 10-12

tons/acre produced by commercial

Abees roots. Results showed that

the productivity may also affected

by the location and type of soil.

The production of clean

sweetpotato plants through

tissue culture method and bio-

farming system at Agro-food

Co. enhanced the final product

and increased the exportation

of the product to EU-Market.

Sensitive analytic techniques

including double antibody

sandwich enzyme linked

immunosorbent assay (DAS-

ELISA), direct ELISA, dot ELISA

and reverse transcription

polymerase chain reaction (RT-

PCR) were compared and

evaluated for their capability to

reliably distinguished between

healthy and sweet potato

feathery mottle virus (SPFMV)

infected sweet potato plants.

results revealed that direct-

ELISA technique was sufficient

for viral detection in

quantitative bases

3.Development of efficient quantitative system for viral detection in sweetpotato

fields.

Healthy

Infected

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

Ind

irect E

LISA

Dire

ct ELIS

A

usin

g N

a C

arb

onate

bica

rbonate

bu

ffer

Dire

ct ELIS

A

usin

g P

BS b

uff

er

Figure 1. Dot-ELISA of healthy and SPFMV-infected sweet potato plants.

4.Sequence determination for the coat protein gene.

The Phylogenic analysis indicated that the Egyptian isolate occurs within the C strains of identified SPFMV.

The availability of

sequence information

for the coat protein

gene is a necessity for

downstream

applications like

molecular and

serological diagnostic

tools and improving

sweet potato crop by

introducing resistant

via established gene

transformation

strategies.

Figure 2. Detection of

SPFMV by RT-PCR.

Healthy (1) and SPFMV-

infected (2) sweet

potato plants. (M)

Molecular weight

marker. PCR product is

indicated by an arrow.

Accession Number

SPFMV Isolate and Strian

AF015540Korean strain 1

AF015541Korean strain 2

AF016366 Zimbabwe

AF439637United States

AF439638United States

AY459591Kenya: Kakamega strain C

AY459592Kenya: Kakamega strain EA

AY459593Kenya: Kisii strain EA

AY459594Kenya: Kisumu strain C

AY459595Uganda: Arua strain O

AY459596Uganda: Namulonge strain C

AY459597Madagascar strain EA

AY459598Tanzania strain RC

AY459599Portugal strain EA

AY459600Spain, Canary Islands strain EA

AY459601South Africa strain C

AY459602China strain RC

D16664ordinary strain, SPFMV-O

D38543Strain Severe

S43450Strain RC

S43451Strain C

S69825China isolate CH

P-SPFMV-R 5`AAGAGGTTATGTATATTTCTAGTA-3´

SPFMV-F 5`-CTTCAGTGACGTTGCTGAAGC-3`

Primers used in this study were conserved in all viral strains in the NCBI database.

5.Optimization of in vitro regeneration ability to solve the difficulty of genotype dependent regeneration phenomenon.

4 different somatic explants were used ( bud, petiole,

lamina and shoot tip.(A wide range of a combination of hormones were used.The work is under progress.

The bottle neck to produce transgenic sp has been the lack of a reliable and efficient regeneration system.The protocols developed for sp regeneration are strongly genotype dependent and thus limit the application of genetic engineering techniques for so improvement.

Fourteen varieties/clones of sweetpotato

were delivered to AGERI from International

Potato Center (CIP)/Nirobi in 2002 as

cuttings. They were in vitro propagated for

their massive micro-propagation. Different

media compositions and incubation

conditions were examined to determine the

optimal conditions for each cultivar. In

vitro plants were acclimatized under

insect–proof greenhouse and used as

mother plants for the cuttings to be

evaluated at different locations. Yield was

evaluated on basis of weight and number

of roots.

6.Evaluation of an orange-fleshed sweetpotato germplasm

provided by CIP for yield, nutritional contents and

resistance/tolerance to major biotic and abiotic stresses.CIP NO.Variety

400004CEMSA 74-228

400011SANTO AMARO

420009JAPON

TRESMESINO

440034MOGAMBA

440092NC 1525

440093NC 1560

440131NAVETO

440163MUGANDE

440116TANZANIA

440169KEMB 10

440170KEMB 37

440185LO 323

440189TAINUNG 64

440132BEAUREGARD

In concerning to field evaluation results,8

cultivars were selected to be evaluated for

their chemical composition in collaboration

with the Food Technology Research Institute

(FTRI), ARC.

It could be clearly concluded that Santa

Amaro and Kemb37 were the best varities

having the highest content of chemical

constituents compared with those of others

creamy flashed sweetpotato varities, while

Tainung64 and LO323 have been recognized as

good sources of B-carotene.

7.Quality assessment on the level of B carotene, proteins, fibers, minerals and carbohydrates.

8.Sensory evaluation of sweetpotato products. Testing for preferably to

different ways of cooking (boiling, backing and crisping) was surveyed. 50 different consumers from different classes have tested the samples.

A completed questionnaire about color, taste, flavor and aroma was collected and statistically analyzed.

10.Raising awareness through the extension to the farmers and peaple for the sp value.

Production of inhanced-quality food product through introduction of orange fleshed-sweetpotatoasmain gridiants.

Germplasm conservation of Egyptian varities.

induction of in vitro Tuberous roots.

Finger printing of Egyptian varities.

Using sweetpotato as a hyperaccumulator

Using sweetpotato in phytoextraction.

Future plane of work

Food Technology Research Institute (FTRI),ARC

Regional Centre for Food and Feed (RCFF),ARC

Plant Pathology Research Institute (PPRI),ARC

Gene bank,ARC

Potato International Centre (CIP)

Agro Food Co.Ltd

AERI, Institutional Linkage Project.Midwest

University Consortium for International Activities

(MUCIA),Inc. And University of Illinois.

Colaboratives

Ahmed Ashoub; Mervat M. M. El Far; Dirk Prüfer; Taymour Nasr El-Din (2007).Comparison of Methods to Detect Sweet Potato Feathery Mottle Virus (SPFMV) In Sweet Potatoes. Egyptian journal of Genetics and Cytology, impress.

Ahmed Ashoub and Mervat M. M. El Far. Sequence and comparison analysis of coat protein gene and 3` non coding region of sweet potato feathery mottle virus (SPFMV) isolated from Egypt. Egyptian journal of Genetics and Cytology, impress.

Mervat M. M. EL Far. Optimization of Growth Conditions during Sweetpotato Micro-propagatio. 7th African Potato Association Conference 22-26 October 2007, Alexandria. Egypt.Mervat M. M. El Far; Ahmed Ashoub; Ramzy El Bedewy and Taymour Nasr El-Din. From Laboratory to Market. Government-private sector contribution to improve sustainable development of sweetpotato production. 7th African Potato Association Conference 22-26 October 2007, Alexandria. Egypt.

Mervat, M. M. El Far; Ahmed Ashoub; Ramzy El Bedewy and Taymour Nasr El-Din. Evaluation of newly introduced sweetpota to germplasm under Egyptian conditions7th African Potato Association Conference 22-26 October 2007, Alexandria, Egypt. El-Bastawesy A.M; Lobna A,H and Mervat, M. M. El Far;.(2007). Chemical and Technological Evaluation of Some Sweetpotato Varities.Annals of Agricultural Science. Accepted for publication.

Publications

Projects

´´Biotechnology based production of high

quality sweetpotato for export`

It is a project aimed to improve the

agronomic qualities of deteriorated local

varity by producing virus-free stock plants.

Midwest University Consortium for International

Activities (MUCIA),Inc. And University of Illinois.

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